Home  Hebridean Breed  Badgerface Breed  Showing  Gallery & Stock for Sale  Latest News  Links & Contact Latest News August 2010 It’s been a very busy month, and both owners and sheep are getting very tired from all the preparation and traveling to and from shows. September will also hold a lot of traveling with the various ram sales. This year, we will travel to Melton Mowbray rare breed sale instead of York, to see what is available, we won’t be taking stock this year having sold some surplus stock privately, but will be in the market for some new breeding ewes. The Badger Face society sale is also held at Builth in September, and the search may be on for a new ram, we will also visit the coloured wool sale at Llanymddyfri.   July 2010 The sunny weather may have gone, but we welcome the rain making the grass grow. Peppa and George our orchard pigs have gone to slaughter, we are selling one in halves and keeping the other for our freezer, they had both become quite large and difficult to move so it was time for them to go, but the place does feel strange without them. We have had a new addition to the family, Fly a 5 year old sheep dog on trial to see how she does with the sheep, and the family. So far she has done fairly well with the sheep, and fantastically well with the kids, but unfortunately not with one of the Aylesbury ducks, who was unfortunate enough to receive a paw to the neck. We have received numerous enquiries about the hebs since our television appearance at the smallholders, and our eldest Efa was shown with her pet lamb on a tv program featuring young animal handlers leading up to the Royal Welsh. We wish to extend our congratulations to Henry Jones, Nefyn on becoming Royal Welsh Torddu champion with his shearling ram, and also for taking the group crown. He helped us a lot in our early showing days with tips on trimming etc for which we are very grateful. Congratulations also to Lis Dawson, our other sheep guru, who took the group title with her Black Welsh Mountain trio. We are gearing up for a very busy August with Anglesey, Eglwysbach, Llanrwst, Flint & Denbigh and Meirionnydd shows all in the space of 3 weeks, its going to be very tough going. April 2010 Spring is definitely in the air! Dotty the Cayuga duck has started laying, the first egg shell was almost black but they have gradually lightened to a pale green. Six of the eggs have been placed in a newly acquired incubator, a 35th birthday present for Robin. Rudy the light Sussex hen has been an excellent broody and hatched out all 10 of her eggs, two chicks was sadly trampled, but 8 out of 10 isn’t bad, a combination of a Red Dorking, 2 Rhode Island reds, and 5 Light Sussex. This was our first experience of hatching, and we thank Abigail Jones of Cwmpenanner Poultry for supplying the fertile eggs. The day old chicks purchased are growing at an outstanding rate, and seem to be constantly eating or drinking. The pigs are settling in nicely and are enjoying attempting to excavate the foundations of their home. They are definitely getting used to us, and our arrival is greeted with a chorus of snorts. Part of the orchard has been prepared for veg planting, potatoes and onions having already been put in. The conservatory has been put over to seed development, currently cultivating broccoli, leeks, courgette, cauliflower, peas, French beans and even more onions. Nefyn show will be our first outing this year, followed two weeks later by the Smallholders festival at Builth. We seem to be, again, woefully ill prepared, and will have to wait until later in the season to see any real results. Our eldest daughter Efa has entered her pet lamb Tom Bach, and was so proud to receive her competitor number in the post, she went completely to pieces with excitement.     March 2010 Apologies for the lack of updates, but technical hitches with the computer have prevented us from posting news. The new shed is up and operational allowing us to lamb at home for the first time, and also to house the show sheep. Lambing is in full swing with the majority of the commercial and Torwen flocks having given birth, the Hebrideans to follow later. We have been very impressed with the offspring of our new Cheviot ram with an almost perfect 200% lambing rate. There have been a few problems as usual such as the weather and lack of grass at turnout however they’ve come through quite well and we still have plenty of silage left. Other news, the hens are laying well and we are building up a customer base amongst family, friends and work colleagues. The ducks are not yet laying, but they seem to be full of the joys of spring! The poultry have been joined in the orchard by Peppa and George, 10 week old weaners purchased from Jack Bee of Ceunant. This is our first time as pig keepers so we have a lot to learn. We’ve also acquired some table birds and look forward to home roast chicken in the summer. Robin, and last years show ram Siwgr are featured in Tim Tyne’s new book The Sheep Book for Smallholders. We visited Tim last summer for assistance in turning Siwgr’s horn which was growing too far inwards, and photos of the process and result are featured on page 175. The Anelog flock of Hebrideans is also featured in The Black Sheep, the yearbook of the Hebridean Sheep Society. Meinir submitted an article on how we came to choose Hebrideans, and we are very pleased to have had it accepted and published along with a full page photo of Barny the ram. Barny also gets a very favorable review from Darren Cassie who was judge at the York show and sale in October. Unfortunately, a computer blip saw the Anelog Hebrideans omitted from this years flock book along with all other breeders with surnames start with J, an error which will soon be rectified with a specially printed insert.   The first show schedules of the season are out and we are looking forward to getting back to halter training and trimming.   January 2010 Happy New Year to all our friends and customers. It’s been a fairly busy few weeks. Jenna Thompson from Sheepscan Meirion came to scan the pedigree flocks of Torwens and Hebrideans just before Christmas and it seems we have more singles than twins this year, which is surprising as they were flushed in plenty of grass. However, I always prefer singles to twins especially to sell as lambs. I have finally managed to clear the jungle that is our orchard and the chickens have been moved there to enjoy the larger area. Unfortunately Crispy our sole surviving magpie duckling was taken by the fox in daylight and in full view of our children from the bedroom window. Poor Catrin was very traumatised however Efa is taking a positive approach and looking forward to more chicks! 5 of our Torwens also went on holiday to John Jones Toppan’s ram to try and introduce some new blood.  Planning has also come through for our new sheep shed at Tyn y Berllan, which hopefully will be up in time for lambing!   Christmas came far too quickly and with it some significant snow and cold weather so we broke open the first of our silage bales. Although it is nice to see the snow it also brought with it a few complications such as increased feeding, icy roads and an enforced delay in digging footings for the new shed. It did however give an opportunity for some snowy photos! Falling Foul of the weather! - Badgers in the snow - Hebs at Castell Deudraeth We will soon be picking the show team and starting with the housing and halter training. Lambing is also creeping up with the first due on Valentines day. Until then keep warm and best wishes for the new year! October 2009 We’ve had a very busy few weeks what with moving and the Autumn sales. First up was the Society Show and Sale at the NSA Ram Sales in Builth. We had decided after much deliberation that Siwgr was surplus to requirements so he was to be sold along with his son Owie the ram lamb and three other ewe lambs. Siwgr was 6th in the show and Twp 103 came a very close 4th out of a very strong line up. Prices were fairy good and we received an average of £90 for the ewe lambs, £140 for Siwgr and Owie came below his asking price and was later sold at home. We also purchased a nice ewe lamb from W Morgan and a shearling ewe from Mr King. Prices were much better down in Llanymddyfri the following weekend with ewes having a cracking trade however show quality lambs were few and far between but we managed to purchase a pair of pretty ewe lambs which came third in the show from the Gwenllan Flock, Llandysul. These were at our limit of spending and hopefully will prove a good investment for the future. It was well worth the 3 hour trip down and we may consider selling there in the future if the prices and entry fees are better than at Builth. The following weekend saw us on the road once more, and on our way to the York Rare & Minority Breed Sale. Meinir had reluctantly decided to sell Barny the prizewinning Hebridean ram together with one of the ewe lambs. Barny once again proved his worth by winning the senior ram class in the society show, judged by Darren Cassie. He sold for £95, third highest price for a ram on the day, and attracted a lot of attention, which was very pleasing as it shows we are on the right track as far as stock selection goes.  Olwen, the ewe lamb, sold for £20, but she was only entered to see what interest there would be in stock from a new breeder, and to see how she compared with the others available. Pics: Meinir with Barney in York - Henry with TWP103 in Builth - Robin with Siwgr in Builth August 2009 Apologies for being slow with the updates but we’ve had a very busy few weeks. We have moved house to Tyn y Berllan, Penmorfa. A very quick decision had to be made and we seized the opportunity. It’s a far bigger house but more importantly has a large garden and half an acre orchard. Since moving in we have now acquired some hens – 4 Lohmann Browns and 4 Light Sussex. I also couldn’t resist bringing home a couple of day old Magpie ducklings to add to the menagerie!  Also in the news this month we’ve sold some ewes to Mr Payne in Llanbedr and a ram lamb to Mrs Linda Baily of Barmouth.,and have also purchased a couple of ewe lambs from Mr Charles Arch. We have been busy sorting out the ewes for tupping and giving sponges a go this year. I’ve never had much joy with them in the past but give it one more go! We were very pleased to have a photo of the Torwens featured in the new Badgerface Society Calendar, launched at this year’s Royal Welsh Show, the Anelog girls are June pinups. We are looking forward to the Badgerface Society Sale at Builth September 21st, and also to the rare breed sale at York October 2nd and 3rd. In the meantime there is a lot of work to be done at home clearing the orchard in readiness to grow our own fruit and veg next year. Lots of work needed to clear the Orchard with brambles 6ft + in places!!! Our first Hens taking in their new home 7th July 2009 It’s been a busy few weeks. I’m happy now all the shearing has finished and we’ve got the silage in – not as dry as we’d hoped but the forecast was for rain so it had to be done. Meinir has purchased a new Hebridean shearling ram from Helen Arthan of Malpas in Cheshire. Giffard as he is known has settled in well and will have his first outing in the Trefor Show next weekend.  Many thanks to Helen for her welcome and introducing us to some of her lovely Jet flock and red poll cattle. Two of our ram lambs were registered at the Caernarfon Show at the weekend. We’ve also had the schedule for the main show and sale in September for which we are gathering a few ewe lambs and possibly one or both of the ram lambs, and also playing with the idea of parting with Siwgr if the price is right! Next weekend the majority of the lambs will be weaned and any that are ready will go to market. Photos of Gifford, left photo with Helen Arthan June 2009 Following a busy start to the season, May has been busy with the halter training and general upkeep of the sheep. Now June has arrived and the weather finally becomes a bit more summery! Normally the ewes are shorn in mid May but due to the last few wet weekends it has had to wait until now. Orf has continued to be a problem with the hebs this spring with a type of Orf that I haven’t come across before – where it occurs on the foot rather than the mouth. Hopefully they will have time to recover and be ready for the next show. The grass is growing strongly and the silage is ready for cutting. We have already had a few enquiries regarding ewes for sale and should have a few ewe lambs for the society sale in September. Enquiries for boxed lamb are coming in slowly and still some left. The first ones should be ready for slaughter next month. Halter Training Shearing What ewe laughing at?! April 2009 Most of the lambs have arrived by now apart from a few late stragglers. Gaynor proved a great disappointment by producing a nice but black ram lamb. With lambing almost over our attention turns to the forthcoming show season. With entries for Nefyn Show and Smallholders already in we begin the task of halter training. The first outing proved to be quite challenging with even last years show lambs being slightly difficult and jumpy. Siwgr takes after his father and has the same tendency to pose on the halter. Meinir halter training an unwilling shearling Glyn going through his refresher lesson Experienced show team – still a bit rusty! So for the next few weeks in the run up to the first show, we shall be busy with continuous halter training and final preparations, including a thorough wash to get out all the winter dirt. The heb’s on the other hand don’t require much preparation however, currently resemble walking gorse bushes and are still as wild as anything! Now lambing’s finished its also time to vaccinate against blue tongue.   We are now officially Hebridean breeders !! 7/3/09 Anelog Branwen was born to one of the Ty Newydd ewes. Meinir has decided to name them after characters from the Mabinogion Folk tales – we felt it was safer than letting Efa choose the names ! Branwen was swiftly followed by Olwen and Bendigeidfran. More Hebsnbadgers! 14/2/09 Lambing has started with the first lamb of the year – single ewe lamb from Sub25 on the day Wales beat England in the six nations! Also more hebs have arrived from Paul Turkentine 2 ewe lambs and a ram lamb, which we will add to the main show team for 2009. Efa has christened the new ram Goliath after her favourite Gladiator! Email us: robin@hebsnbadgers.co.uk - meinir@hebsnbadgers.co.uk